“Pain is the lamentable pearl of this earth of ours. We spin unceasingly the web of sorrow. It is our hell, our tribulation, but it is also our greatness. If man builds at all, it is at the price of endless efforts and tears. If he were happy, he would be as though he existed not. If he were prosperous he would not progress. Every one finds a pedestal on which to raise himself and the name of that pedestal is suffering. What is adversity in the language of men is blessing in the language of the Gods”.

<B>Anatole France</B>

Many societies since ancient times have accepted euthanasia both legally and morally. Voluntary euthanasia for the elderly and infanticide on desperately unhealthy children were common features in ancient Greece and Rome. However, with the onset of organised religious awakening, all forms of euthanasia were condemned and vehemently abhorred.

Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam have all opposed the idea of a human taking the life of another. It is solely and ultimately God, who decides on life and death issues. Moreover, deep inside every man’s heart is a strong conviction that he must live as long as he can. Where there is life, there is hope.

Great Britain and the United States have given rise to organisations supporting the legalisation of voluntary eithanasia. Nevertheless, numerous moral, ethical and legal questions concerning mercy killing keep cropping up.

From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, God has made us to resemble His own image as stated in the Holy Bible. We are all the sons and daughters of the same one God whom we worship day and night across the globe.

Lord Kapila said: “The senses are symbolic representations of the demigods, and their natural inclination is to work under the direction of the Vedic injunctions. As the senses are the representatives of the demigods, so the mind is the representative of the supreme Personality of Godhead. The mnd’s natural duty is to serve when that spirit of service is engaged in devotion to the personality of Godhead, without any motive, that is far better than salvation.”

Many people consider doctors as next to God. Under all circumstances, doctors preserve and enhance life, thereby increasing the lifespan of many and adding meaning and joy to their lives.

The Hippocratic oath is doctors’ mission statement: “You will exercise your art solely for the cure of your patients, and will give no drug, perform no operation, for a criminal purpose, even if solicited, far less suggest it” is the main objective of all doctors, be they neurosurgeons, geanologists, opthalmologists or general practitioners.

Doctors around the world fight to revive people. It is not an obsession for prolonging life. Doctors consider it their duty. Even if patients are in coma and are brain dead, they are alive because they breathe. For doctors, these patients are living beings. Human dignity is priceless and it has to be respected.

There have been numerous incidents in the past when people who were believed to be terminally ill have recovered. In fact, records from reliable sources have shown that a few people have been buried alive and then discovered to be still alive. In such cases euthanasia is murder.

Therefore the doctor responsible for speeding up death is a murderer. Imagine the heavy debt he will have to pay under the law of karma. Gautama Buddha has clearly explained in plain words that we are solely responsible for our suffering. It is the law of nature.

However innocent we might be, we have to go through pain and suffering owing to present or past karma to pave a better path for the future. It is believed that if a soul escapes the lesson it is supposed to learn, it will either suffer in the next world or return to this world to complete the learning.

Under the Nazis, millions of people were put to death for imaginary “racial defects”. The mass examination of the Jews reflected the abuse of the power over life and death. What happened recently in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is one of the grossest violations of human rights under the Geneva Convention. This as well is some form of euthanasia where there is no respect for one’s brother’s life.

We are all souls fashioned on the same anvil. We are one with our creator, the indivisibility of the human spirit cannot be assessed. Let this spirit resurface and reinvent itself. Why should euthanasia intervene? Say no to euthanasia!